Cities And Memory

In the summer of 2019, while sitting beside a small unnamed lake/pond, which friends and I called Crater Lake (because it looked like a crater), I was attempting to record loons in the late afternoon/early evening. Instead, a beaver swam around circling and splashing about near the nest of a pair of loons and their loonlets, messing with them far as I could tell. Thus, we get no loon sounds but some reverberating beaver tail whips.  The lake itself was situated where I was sat several meters from the shore nestled in an almost amphitheater type setting, and the recording reflects as much (especially when listening with headphones or a good pair of speakers). The frogs, songbirds set the stage for a sound rich environment, and the beaver tail led the way, so to speak, or at the very least, punctuated the recording with deep bass resonance.  Hence, the playful title I attributed to the recording. I find the tail whip sounds especially unique and felt serendipitous I was able to capture it - sounds of the nort

"We travel through many sonic landscapes. Lately, I’ve been flying back and forth from Massachusetts to Wisconsin to help my elderly parents. I selected this field recording from from the north woods of WI (a shared past) paired with my own similar recordings from the deep forest in MA/VT (a shared present), and a nearby pond at the Clark Art Institute.  "In a sense this becomes an ambient travelogue. As we age and travel, there are many delights and familiarities, but also many unknowns, so I composed this piece to be both lovely and a little ominous, performing bowed bells, percussion, and modular synthesizer in addition to the field recordings." Chequamegon Nicolet national forest, Iron River USA reimagined by Gregory Scheckler.

"This piece is a personal journey through the experiences of being born and growing up on an island with complex cultural, political, and historical roots. I felt strong connections and disconnections between where I grew up and where I lived afterwards, realising that identity and belonging can continue to evolve in subtle ways. Making every moment of interaction with the space and culture dynamic, as the individual affects the space, and in turn, it affects the individual.  "I primarily used the recording allocated to me for this project for rhythmic and timbral purposes. In a sense, the selection of the recording was both informed by and, in turn, informed the piece that I was composing. It helped bridge the metal and soundscape genres with its natural timbre and rhythmic qualities." Fez medina work sounds reimagined by Berk Yagli.

This was recorded in Fez Medina in Morocco in 2008, I feel that this sound sums up not only the sense of place that one feels when inside the Medina, but it is seemingly a sound which defines temporal definition.  One might hear this sound at any point in the last 2,000 years, a unique soundmark, which also personally resonates with my own memories of that time in my life, the time in Morocco and also the feelings of hope and optimism for the future which seemingly seem distant in 2025. Recorded by Neil Spencer Bruce.

This recording captures the "Isha" call to prayer in the medina of Nabeul, Tunisia. "Isha" is the night prayer, and is announced after dark.  Nabeul has two main mosques in the medina, plus other call to prayers can be heard in the distance. The presence of space is well recognisable due to the various distances of the different Isha calls. Recorded by Colin Hunter.

The recording is made sitting on a pier by the Kukkia lake. One can hear waves under the pier and sounds coming across the lake but also insects. The contact microphone was placed on a floating metal plate on water and animals smaller than the eye could see were walking on it and made sounds. Recorded by Sirpa Jokinen.

"The piece was about seeking answers or at least a response and receiving silence. There is a resignation or even frustration that is represented with the ebbing and flowing of the instruments.  "Harmonium, guitar, saxophone, and Mellotron alongside a field recording of a call to prayer. Every time a melody would emerge, I would intentionally pull back as if the melody was an answer to the pleas from the instruments. It was challenging and somewhat frustrating, but I would audibly say “refrain” when things started to flow and bring that instrument to rest. This is a topic touched upon in Ingmar Bergman films: faith and silence." Nabeul call to prayer reimagined by Jeff Brown.

"Blossoming Wake was inspired by the field recording “By The Kukkia Lake” by Sirpa Jokinen. I was drawn to this field recording, which was made with a contact microphone, simply because I too have been using contact microphones to record outdoors.  "My sound sources consist of contact microphones placed in dead hollow trees (Clark Reservation, Jamesville, NY) and on a creaking gate (Three Falls Woods, Manlius, NY).  "Additional sound sources (made with a shotgun microphone) include rubber balls rubbed against a wooden sculpture (Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY) and various water sounds (Crystal Lake, Benzie County, MI). All audio files used to create this “blended landscape” have been edited and processed in the studio using Cubase and Ableton." Kukkia lake, Finland reimagined by Edward Ruchalski.

Hydrophones at the bottom of a seasonal pond, in the ecologically rich Orchard St Marsh and Forest which is threatened by a developer who wants to build condos. Recorded by Matt Rogalsky.

"Like so many other areas, time is running out for the wetlands at Orchard Street Marsh, Canada. Development decisions are under review. To reflect this in my piece, I have kept the sound of the hydrophone from the original recording as a time clock.  "Accompanying, I have played layers of tenor recorder to represent the harmony of breath beneath the water. You will also hear the natural sounds of the wetland in real time; the fluid movements of carbon storage, flood control and biodiversity." Wetland in Kingston, Canada reimagined by Cheryl Beer.

This recording captures the sferic sounds from an electrical storm that occurred on 30.03.2025. The fizzes, crackles and zaps are from natural electrical phenomena, specifically broadband electromagnetic (EM) impulses caused by lightning discharges, that were detected via a homemade receiver I adapted from the Shortwave Collective’s Open Wave-Receiver.  There are 3 recordings, the first half is prior to a power blackout, the second half is after - showcasing the atmospheric sounds without human-made EM noise. The third recording was taken with an ultrasonic mic capturing the rumblings and movements which provides the base notes of this piece. Recorded by Aliesha King.

In the Chocó jungle near Capurganá, Colombia, the natural soundscape is interrupted by the hum of generators. This recording captures the morning interplay between the haunting calls of howler monkeys and the mechanical drone of generators, creating a unique, chaotic harmony. Recorded by Rafael Diogo.

The selected recording was made at a roadside metal cross surrounded by a fence, marking the burial place of cholera epidemic victims. Behind the cross, a short distance from the road, the old burial plot has turned into a wild pond covered with duckweed. You can hear a flock of tits flying over the water surface, dragonflies interested in the microphones, and at one point, a raven appears on a tall tree. Only three cars pass by.  This recording is a part of the Funereal project, an artistic and research project based on the practice of field recordings in old cemeteries. It is set in the broad context of death studies and considerations on memorial sites and deathscapes. It focuses on the soundscapes related to the heterotopic space of old, forgotten cemeteries. In its considerations, it combines seemingly distant threads, regarding memory, sound ecology and the parascientific EVP - Electronic Voice Phenomena. https://soundcloud.com/user-685437514 The recording has not been modified. The project assumes a

"What grabbed me about the original rainforest recording from Colombia was hearing two opposites collide – the raw, wild roars of howler monkeys and a strange, mechanical buzz. The longer I listened, the more apparent it became that this recording, much like the composition it inspired, revolves fundamentally around the idea of distance. Different kinds of proximity mix here – the clash of nature and machines, things that are near or far (those birds!). It provokes urgent questions: What is our place in nature? Where do we fit in the chain of evolution? What is our impact on the surroundings? "That friction between what’s wild and what’s wired creates a kind of unease. You can hear it in the music: a low, unsettling rumble, sharp spikes of noise, and a quiet ache that hums underneath. It’s that feeling when things don’t quite line up - like we’re close to nature, but also miles apart." Choco rainforest, Colombia reimagined by Przemysław Scheller.

"My composition “Skała” (which means rock) is based on a field recording from the Skała Choleric Jewish Cemetery in Pabianice, Poland. One might think what sounds could there be in a cemetery? Silence? Wind? Birds? When I first heard this field recording what I heard were the sounds of history. A very deep complicated history. Skała dates back to the 13th century, and the first Jews appeared settled there at the end of the 18th century.  "After the German army entered the town in September 1939, the Jewish community was immediately targeted with persecutions. And by the spring of 1941, an open ghetto of 3,000 Jews was established in Skała. In August 1942, some of them were deported to the Słomniki Ghetto, and then to the Bełżec extermination camp. The rest were murdered in the town or in local Jewish cemetery. It is with this historic background that I composed “Skała”.  "I was interested in the dual possibility of such a tragic history lying under the ground, while up above the peaceful sounds of silence,

"This composition is built entirely from a field recording of an electrical storm, whose raw energy and unpredictable structure inspired the form of the piece. I preserved the full length of the original audio, allowing its natural rise and fall to guide the listening experience.  "Through heavy processing, the storm’s dynamics are brought into sharper focus — from piercing, harsh bursts of energy to more subdued, crackling textures. Randomized sound transformations reflect the storm’s inherent volatility, creating a sonic environment that is both violent and delicate, chaotic and contemplative." Electrical storm in Perth reimagined by Stefan Strasser.

"I live on the Danish island of Bornholm, which is in the western end of the Baltic Sea. People here share a long, rich history with the Baltic countries, so choosing a field-recording from Tallinn felt natural. The dastardly Russian war feels really close here at the moment, and many of us here are more conscious about our cultural heritage and friendship across the sea now than we used to be. "This is, however, not a work about war, but more about celebrating the fact that we're still able to take a silly walk through the old historical part of Tallinn, not being at war, walking through a town that isn't in ruins - and simply exploring and enjoying what that's like.  "As you can probably hear, all sounds heard throughout the piece are from the original field-recording. I've used samplers and various sampling effects (like delays and reverbs), and a ton of manual edits (literally thousands of manual edits made over a two week period). The tonal sounds were made with "frozen reverbs". All this editing mainl

Walkthrough of Tallinn's medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on a morning with pouring rain. The streets are quite empty compared to the usual bustle, and we hear rain overflowing from drainpipes and gutters. The soundwalk ends at the famous, beautiful medieval alleyway St. Catherine's Passage. Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"The port of Brindisi, end of the Appian Way at five in the afternoon, along the steps at the foot of the Roman columns. "Two stretches of still and silent sea, the engine of the boat that connects the shores of the port, the bar and its cheerful customers, birds singing in spring, a sudden plane that takes flight from the nearby airport. "A counterpoint with an insistent rhythm that melts and drops a semitone at the moment of takeoff and detachment before nostalgia. An instant in a place of transit for centuries, voices and travellers who went." Brindisi port reimagined by Giuseppe Schirone. IMAGE: Freccia53, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The port of Brindisi, end of the Appian Way at five in the afternoon, along the steps at the foot of the Roman columns. Two stretches of still and silent sea, the engine of the boat that connects the shores of the port, the bar and its cheerful customers, birds singing in spring, a sudden plane that takes flight from the nearby airport. Recorded by Giuseppe Schirone.  IMAGE: Freccia53, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons